The tale of a woman who promises her first child to the spirit of the ìrókò tree in exchange for fertility, cannot pay, and is turned into a bird until her husband carves a wooden child to deceive the tree.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Dis na di story of Olúrónbí, one wood-carver wife wey follow di women for her village go beg di spirit of di ìrókò tree make e give dem children, and na only her promise her first pikin. Di pikin come born and na im fine pass all of dem, and she no fit give di pikin out again. E dey among di Yorùbá story dem wey people sabi pass wey still dey around, and e survive as children song even without di full story.
Two version dey here, and di way dem take different make sense to look well: one English story wey M. I. Ogumefu record for 1929 wey end with di child recovered , and one Yorùbá song text wey dem publish for one peer-reviewed article for 2023 from one named informant, where di story end with di child lost .
For one particular village, no pikin dey born for many years, and di people dey worry well-well.
At last, all di women for di village gather go inside forest, go meet di magic tree wey be ìrókò, and beg di spirit of di tree make e help dem.
Di Ìrókò-man ask dem wetin dem go bring give am if e gree help dem, and di women quickly promise am corn, yam, fruit, goat and sheep. But Olúrónbí, wey be di young wife of one wood-carver, promise say she go bring her first pikin.
As time dey go, children start to come di village, and di one wey fine pass all na di one wey Olúrónbí born. She and her husband love di pikin sotey dem no gree give am to di Ìrókò-man again.
Di other women carry di gift wey dem promise, like corn, yam, fruit, goat and sheep go give di tree; but Olúrónbí no carry anything go to satisfy di tree.
As matter come be, one day as Olúrónbí dey pass through di forest, di Ìrókò-man catch her and turn her to small brown bird, wey come sitdown for di tree branch dey sing with sorrow say:
Dem no give di Yorùbá. Ogumefu print di song for English only .
E no dey available; Yorùbá text no dey inside di source .
Translator: M. I. Ogumefu
One person promise sheep, One person promise goat, One person promise fruit, But Oluronbi promise her pikin.
When di wood-carver hear di bird song, e understand wetin don happen, and e try find way to get im wife back.
After e don think for many days, e start to carve one big wooden doll, wey look like real pikin for size and look, and e put small gold chain for di doll neck. E cover am with fine native cloth, come drop am for under di tree. Di Ìrókò-man think say na Olúrónbí pikin, so e turn di small bird back to woman and carry di child go up di tree branches.
Olúrónbí return go house with joy, and she make sure say she no ever enter dat forest again.
Another way to tell di story, wey show say di person wey make di vow no be Olúrónbí self but one woman wey go consult herbalist wey dem dey call Olúwéré, na Bamidele Omolaye from Obafemi Awolowo University publish am from one informant wey dem record for 2022 . Di song still survive there inside Yorùbá.
Solo: Oníkálukú n jèjé ewúré, ewúré, ewúré, Oníkálukú n jèjé àgùntàn, àgùntàn bòlòjò Olúrónbí n jèjé omo rè, omo rè Apónbíepo Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Janin - janin, Ìrókò janin-janin Solo: Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Janin - janin, Ìrókò janin-janin
Translator: Bamidele Omolaye
Solo: Each person vow goat! goat! goat! Each person vow sheep, sheep wey fat well-well, Olúrónbí vow her pikin, her pikin Apónbíepo Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Mighty-mighty Ìrókò tree, mighty mighty Solo: Olúrónbí oo Chorus: Mighty-mighty Ìrókò tree, mighty mighty
Di article print im Yorùbá with grave and acute accent but no subdots at all, as person fit check if dem search di article: omo rè stand for ọmọ rẹ̀, and so on . Dem copy di text exactly as dem print am and flag am instead of to correct am, according to di rule wey dem follow throughout dis section.
Two things inside di Yorùbá no survive di translation. Di pikin name, Apónbíepo, mean di person wey red or ripe like palm oil, name wey dey describe person wey fine for skin, and inside di song na im be di last word for di line wey name wetin dem vow, so dem take di pikin beauty identify am for di exact moment wey dem promise to give am away. Ogumefu English version keep di beauty as narration ("the most beautiful of all") and lose am from di song.
Di second thing be say, na di audience get di chorus, and wetin di audience dey sing no be pity for Olúrónbí. Na Janin-janin, Ìrókò janin-janin, wey be praise for di tree power. Di people wey dey listen dey support di person wey dem owe. Di corpus note as analysis say dis one na big part of di power wey di story get when dem dey perform am, and e no dey show at all for any English story version: di room no dey cry or pity, na chanting dem dey chant to praise di power of wetin dem owe.
Di other party. Ogumefu get di spirit of di ìrókò tree, wey be "Ìrókò-man." Omolaye informant get one named herbalist, Olúwéré, wey disappear enter inside tree with di pikin for di end . Di tree dey both of dem but im relationship with di person wey make di vow different.
Who else dey involved. For Ogumefu version, all di women for di village wey no fit born pikin gather go together, and na dat make Olúrónbí promise stand out: every other person offer animal. For Omolaye version, na only one woman problem be di setting, but di song still list wetin "each person" vow, so di comparative structure still remain inside di song even as di story don narrow down.
Di ending, wey be di main difference. For Ogumefu own, di wood-carver carve fake pikin, di tree chop di trick, Olúrónbí get her life back, and she go house. For Omolaye own narration, dem carry di pikin Apónbíepo go and she no recover am: "na so Olúrónbí take lose her pikin" .
Di corpus no judge between di two. Proof dey say dem narrate both, and tori wey end with recovery and tori wey end with loss dey teach different lessons. Omolaye talk wetin make dem dey tell his own version: make children learn say make dem no promise wetin pass dem power, and make dem no dey rush make vow . Ogumefu version, with di sharp husband inside, turn di same warning to tori about debt wey person fit settle with craft and sense.
Di principle na say vow na serious commitment and di tori treat am say must to pay am, no matter wetin di person get for mind dat time. Olúrónbí no be wicked person. Condition na im tight her neck, and she promise di only thing wey she get wey value pass goat, for time wey she never even get am and she no fit imagine say she go get am. Di whole moral weight of di tori dey inside di space between di vow and di pikin: wetin be just abstract thing when she promise am come turn to real fine girl, and di debt no dey change.
Di second principle na exposure through song. Dem turn Olúrónbí to bird wey dey sit on top di tree dey sing her matter, and di song na public confession: dis person promise sheep, dat one promise goat, and me I promise my pikin. Dem no shut her mouth, dem make her broadcast am. owe-shame-reputation-being-seen gather materials on how public knowledge dey serve as punishment, and na di same format dey work for alo-buje-the-slender, where woman matter spoil because people announce wetin happen, no be just because of wetin she do.
For Ogumefu version, di singing na still wetin save her, because her husband hear am and understand. Di corpus note as analysis say di punishment and di rescue pass through di same road: dem condemn her to talk wetin she do, and to talk am out open na im bring help.
Di fake pikin wey dem carve deserve note. Di husband na wood-carver, and di tori give am solution wey come from im own work: doll wey reach pikin size with gold chain, wey dem wrap with fine cloth. owe-carver-potter-maker gather proverb materials on people wey dey make things. Whether di tori present di trick say e make sense or say na just wetin work, Ogumefu no talk; her closing line talk say make Olúrónbí shine her eye well make she never waka enter di forest again, wey show say di danger still dey continue.
Olúrónbí special for dis section because people still dey sing am. Di Yorùbá text dey spread as children song without di full tori follow am, and both academic source and common collections get versions of am. Di corpus record di academic one for up and note di way e dey spread among people without quoting from website wey dem no mention who write am.
E dey important to note dis one because yoruba-alo describe how television and phone take push dis kind tradition comot, and di way e take survive here dey teach something: wetin remain na di chorus, wey stand alone without di tori. Song fit continue to live as song even after di evening wey carry am don pass.
Apart from di two wey dey up, di tori show for di inventory of yorubatales.com as "Olurombi" , and one children book wey Lady Kofo Ademola write, Olurombi, dey recorded inside dat site bibliography (Mudhut Books / Malthouse Press / Gilspar, 1994) . Di compiler no check any of di two, and no text come from any of dem.
Tori for evening time, wey dem cover inside yoruba-alo; di musical setting of Omolaye recordings, in compound duple metre on top hemitonic pentatonic scale with staff notation, dey described inside im article . Note say dis song dey in solo-and-chorus form instead of strict call-and-response: Omolaye classify am as di antiphonal type where di lead singer raise di song and di chorus answer, compared to di call-and-response type wey dey inside di three Ìjàpá tori wey im publish .
The evening storytelling tradition, the call-and-response frame that opens it, riddles as a separate discipline, and the Ìjàpá cycle read as a body of ethical and comic literature.
A tortoise tale in which Ìjàpá tastes a fertility medicine prepared for his wife three times and dies of it, with the Yorùbá text of the Alugbinrin pleading song from a named informant.
What M. I. Ogumefu's 1929 collection offers, and the disqualifying caveat she states in her own preface: the songs of these tales have been deliberately left out.
The one modern peer-reviewed source in this section that names its informants and prints Yorùbá song text, and the one defect in it that governs how every song from it is reproduced.
Nine Yorùbá proverbs on àdúrà (prayer), bùkún (blessing) and èpè (curse), showing that curse dominates this vocabulary in the recorded corpus and is treated as a real, targeted, and sometimes self-inflicted force.
Sourced Yorùbá proverbs on bearing and raising children, the duties of parents, the training of the young, and what passes from one generation to the next.